The sport of politics. The politics of sport.

by A.F. Cook © 2007
[This article has been edited from the original book chapter, by the author, for length.]_____________________________________________________
“When you’re playing for the national championship, it’s not a matter of life and death. It’s more important than that.” — Duffy Daugherty
The political red zone
Every football fan in America knows about the “red zone” — the […]

To my readers and friends:
Red Zone Blogitics is taking a short hiatus from the blogosphere until the Democratic nomination process for president is decided. Basically, with all of the hot-air speculation around the election, I got tired of hearing my own writing — along with everyone else’s. But I offer a few nuggets here in […]

The American press has done it again. Done what? Helped fuel a backlash to Barack Obama in the electorate last Tuesday. The usual suspects on CNN and MSNBC (you know who you are) couldn’t help INSINUATING LOUDLY over the past couple of weeks that Hillary Clinton should throw in the towel on her presidential bid […]

The New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers weren’t scheduled to meet each other during the regular season, so about half of America was hoping they’d face each other in Super Bowl XLII. We didn’t get to see the two best quarterbacks in the League — Tom Brady and Brett Favre — play each other […]

I’m not going to cover the details of the policy part of Tuesday night’s debate, because it was pretty much boilerplate and if you want to read the debate transcript, you can find copies all over the Web. No, my focus for this post is on the perception ball as it was handled and mishandled by […]

The image could not have been more stark: Hillary Clinton at Tuesday night’s debate surrounded by three men. Her opponent, Barack Obama, may have not been completely status quo, thanks to his status as a biracial American. But her two inquisitors, Brian Williams and Tim Russert, epitomized the white-men-in-suits class that dominates the media hierarchy like a […]

The New England Patriots are still considering whether to assign the franchise tag to wide receiver Randy Moss for the 2008-09 NFL season. The Indianapolis Colts have franchised tight end Dallas Clark and the Baltimore Ravens have tagged linebacker Terrell Suggs as a franchise player.
What does the franchise tag do? It allows a team to […]

The New England Patriots may need to make some important personnel additions and subtractions for the upcoming season, but let’s not overlook that the coaches themselves need to do some soul-searching, because aspects of their Super Bowl game plan left much to be desired.
Specifically, the Pats:
1. Should have allowed Stephen Gostkowski to attempt a long […]

In our house, a den of Patriot loyalty, the shrouds are just coming off the furniture as we end our mourning period for the 2007-08 legend that was the current New England team.
We’re just waiting for the NFL Combine, so we can see who Belichick is looking at in the draft pool to boost the […]

Listening to the “John Riggins Show” on ESPN Radio, you can take it from the experts — ex-NFL players — that the Pro Bowl is becoming more and more of a snoozefest. Especially this year.
Former Washington Redskins Hall of Fame running back and Pro Bowler Riggins hosts the show, which today (like most sports-talk programs) […]